JOURNALIST...

"I never give them [the public] hell. I just tell the truth, and they think it's hell." -Harry S. Truman, April 1956

In the White House Press Briefing Room...

In October of 2010...

My affinity for words began in 1968. That was the year Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and the year my father reneged on paying me the $3 he promised if I memorized King's "I Have A Dream" speech.

In the end, though, reciting that speech numerous times at church meetings, in front of my grandmother's company, and in other eye-roll inducing situations paid off in a bigger way. It exposed me to the power of language.

It was power I longed to master.So years later, I earned a journalism degree from the University of Florida, and I ultimately became an opinion columnist at The Florida Times-Union and the first black member of its Editorial Board.Overthe years I:

Won 15 state and national awards for my columns, including two from the prestigious Florida Society of News Editors and a first-place commentary award from the National Association of Black Journalists in 2000.

Interviewed leaders such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Barack Obama.

Had my work published in The San Francisco Chronicle, the Baltimore Sun, and other newspapers throughout the country.

Wrote a weekly opinion column for Black America Web, one of the nation's leading websites for African-American news and commentary, from 2003 to 2013.

Served as managing editor for The Institute for Advanced Journalism Studies, a non-profit dedicated to independent journalism work.

Edited and coordinated reporting projects ranging from the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Kerner Commission Report on Civil Disorders, to black childhood obesity and the black-white education achievement gap.,

But two years ago, I decided to take my life and my career in an exciting new direction! While I continue to write a weekly opinion column for the Times-Union, I've been spending most of my time working on a graduate degree in international and intercultural communications at the University of Florida, with an eye towards developing new insights into how technology and new media is evolving and how it is eroding barriers between cultures and economies. I also contribute commentary to The Root, The Washington Post's website that specializes in news and features for African-Americans. Additionally, I'm currently developing a documentary project on black Cuba and working on a project with the Morgan State University School of Global Journalism and Communications to develop a mobile app to deliver news and information to neighborhoods surrounding Baltimore.

Much of my insight comes from my history and my travels, not to mention hard data and my experiences living in an inner-city neighborhood in Jacksonville, where I see first hand how people's lives are impacted by politics, disparities in health, wealth and criminal justice, and on how demographic and social changes are poised to change our world — or at least the way we think about people once regarded as disposable.

What people are saying about Tonyaa..."Bravo!!! I just read your article on CNN Opinion summarizing the Michael Dunn verdict. You precisely articulated the insanity of the jury's decision and why as a society this gives us no reason for celebration. Thank you ... and my prayers are with Jordan Davis' family."

-Rosalyn Solomon, CNN reader.

"Your article said everything I thought about ... Excellent writing.. Just excellent."

- Mychele ReAves, CNN reader

"Thank you for your column regarding discrimination against gays. Your point that this discrimination ban directly affects families was right on point. You make an effective argument for your position."-Michael Thrift, reader, Jacksonville.